


The Blond Plans

by cutsycat



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-19 15:52:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17004582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/pseuds/cutsycat
Summary: Tony and Gibbs are hiding their relationship. Only everyone knows or do they? Tony makes a comment about his plans with a blond and Gibbs gets jealous. Can Tony make it up to him? Or did Gibbs misunderstand? Will they be able to resolve this?





	The Blond Plans

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jacie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacie/gifts).



> This is for Jacie. I tried to combine Holiday theme, Jealous Alpha!Gibbs with established pairing trying to hide their relationship, maybe sneaking kisses at work, or sneaking off for a weekend together. But it turns out that someone or everyone at the office knows about or finds out about their relationship anyway and messes with them a little bit (in a light-hearted/joking manner). 
> 
> I'm not sure I succeed at either well, but I hope Jacie enjoys.

“Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!” Abby bounced excitedly into the bullpen.

“What, Abs?”

“Are we really getting Christmas off this year?”

“Yep. The last two years crimes that require NCIS have been down during Christmas time, so Vance decided to just give us Christmas off this year.”

“Yay!” Abby pulled Tim up out of his chair and danced with him around the bullpen excitedly. Nothing too fancy. She was mostly dragging McGee around with her rather than actually dancing with him.

“Vance probably just jinxed us, you know?” Tony pointed out from where he was watching the goings on at his desk.

“Don't be a spoilsport, Tony. It will be fun. You're coming, right?” Abby turned around to her next victim, Tony, finally tired of dancing with Tim. 

She dumped Tim back in his seat and turned to Gibbs, “This calls for a Christmas Party at Gibbs’ house, right everyone?”

“I can’t make it, Abby,” Tony announced.

Gibbs’ head whipped around so fast he almost got whiplash. “What?” Gibbs growled dangerously.

“Sorry, boss. I already made plans with a cute blond for our days off. I hope you don’t mind.”

Gibbs snarled, but said nothing. He couldn’t very well take Tony’s head off given they were trying to keep their relationship a secret, being naturally private people. However, his plans for the holidays had just gone down the drain.

He’d planned to invite Tony to Stillwater to spend Christmas with Jackson. He knew Tony liked Jackson and would enjoy some time looking at Gibbs’ baby pictures or whatever it was Jackson and Tony did while Gibbs chopped wood or whatever other task Jackson set him to doing. They were in a committed relationship or so Gibbs had thought, but apparently Tony had made plans with a blond.

A blond?! Was Tony regretting their relationship already? They hadn’t been together long, only a little over a year.

Gibbs knew he was still a bastard at work, but he thought Tony knew he loved him. Why wouldn’t Tony want to spend Christmas with him? Gibbs would almost rather have had the Christmas Party at his place with the whole team if it meant he and Tony could spend Christmas together.

“But Tony, you have to come! It’s not a team get together without you.” Abby’s lower lip trembled.

“Sorry, Abs. Maybe next year.”

“We can still have the Christmas Party at your place, though, right, Gibbs?” Abby pouted at him.

“Sure. Why wouldn’t we be able to?”

“Well don’t you and Tony have plans together?”

“Why would we have plans, Abby?” Had they been too obvious? Did everyone know that he was in a relationship with Tony? Though, given Tony was making plans with blonds, Gibbs wasn’t sure they actually had a relationship anymore.

“Don’t be silly, bossman. Everyone knows you and Tony are together.”

Gibbs eyes practically bulged out of his head. “Everyone?”

“Well the important people Tim, Ducky, Jimmy, Bishop, me.” Abby counted each person out on her fingers.

“Who else knows, Abs?”

Abby shrugged. “It was pretty obvious when you arranged that excuse for Tony to try parachuting.”

“That was over 10 years ago, Abby.”

Abby shrugged again. “We figured you would tell us eventually. We didn’t expect you guys to go for 10 years without saying anything. We were all worried when you left for Mexico that you guys had broken up. You aren’t broken up, are you?”

“Abby, we weren’t together 10 years ago,” Tony slowly interrupted as Gibbs spluttered.

“You weren’t?”

“We weren’t.”

“What about when Gibbs went to Mexico?”

“We weren’t together then either, Abs. Sorry.”

“So you guys aren’t together now?” 

Gibbs just grunted, neither confirming nor denying. Tony just shrugged.

Abby huffed. “Fine. We’ll make it a New Year’s Party at Gibbs’ house and you better be there, Tony.”

Abby was already making plans for mistletoe and some Christmas kisses to get her boys together. She and Tim had finally figured things out and were happy together and she wanted the same for her boys. She knew Tony and Gibbs fit together. Just because they hadn’t figured out that they were happier together on their own, didn’t mean she was going to let that stop her from making sure they were happy.

“So no Christmas Party, Abby?” Gibbs asked.

“Nope. It’s not a party without Tony. We’ll reschedule for New Year’s. It’s still at your place, though, Gibbs.”

“Ok. Abs.”

Abby danced her way out of the bullpen, her mind already alight with ideas for how to get her silver fox together with Tony. Gibbs growled and Tony quickly returned to his computer and work. McGee did the same, leaving Bishop to follow suit or risk Gibbs’ wrath.

They made it through the day without catching a case and everyone cheerfully wished each other happy holidays as they left for a nice long holiday break, a rarity for the MCRT. Well everyone except Gibbs who gruffly barked out, “Merry Christmas,” and then stormed out of the bullpen.

“What's with him?” Abby asked.

Tony shrugged. “No idea. Maybe he wanted to work the holiday instead of spending it alone.”

“What? We can't let Gibbs be alone for the holiday.”

“I doubt he wants your pity, Abby.”

Abby stomped her feet. “It's not pity, Tony. He's family. It's love.”

”Well.. don’t worry too much if he’s not home or available, Abs. He’s a grown man and capable of entertaining himself.” That was as close as Tony was willing to hint that he planned to keep Gibbs occupied over the holidays. 

Tony waved as he took the stairs. He didn’t want to deal with even a possibility of this conversation continuing. Plus, he needed to get to Gibbs’ house before Gibbs did something drastic. 

It was obvious that Gibbs had not taken his announcement about their plans well. Tony wasn’t sure why Gibbs was so bothered by it, however. Maybe he should have talked with Gibbs before booking a trip for the two of them and Jackson for Christmas. 

Jackson had sounded excited about it, but apparently Gibbs wasn’t happy about it. Tony just hoped that they could work out whatever idea Gibbs had gotten stuck in his head. Tony wasn’t tied to the trip, but he’d thought it would be fun for all of them and if Gibbs wasn’t going to enjoy it then they’d need to figure out something else.

He wanted to be gone before any of the team or extended team came looking for either one of them. Unless Gibbs had decided he no longer wanted them to be private, they needed to be gone when people came looking for them or their secret would be revealed. He pulled into the driveway at Gibbs’ place and immediately noticed that Gibbs’ vehicle wasn’t here.

Gibbs sometimes parked in the garage, so he hoped that Gibbs was actually in the house and just his vehicle wasn’t visible. “Gibbs?” Tony called out as he entered Gibbs’ house. 

No answer. Tony walked down the stairs to the basement just to make sure Gibbs wasn’t in his normal sanctuary. He continued calling for Gibbs as he walked upstairs searching for Gibbs.

Nowhere. Gibbs was nowhere to be found. Where had he gone?

Gibbs had left work before him. He should have easily beaten Tony here. What was Gibbs doing? 

Had Gibbs gone to his place? They normally met at Gibbs’ house, but maybe he’d decided to go to Tony’s instead for some reason? Tony would give it another 30 minutes before calling.

He didn’t want to seem too needy even though he was really worried about Gibbs, especially after the outburst at work when Tony announced their plans and then again when Gibbs left. This wasn’t normal Gibbs’ behavior. Tony worried about what could have gotten into Gibbs’ head. 

They hadn’t been together that long, but Gibbs had always been a rather steady presence even when they weren’t together. That wasn’t to say that Gibbs never got angry, but it was generally pretty obvious why he was upset or what you’d done wrong. Right now, Tony didn’t have a clue what was going on in his lover’s head. 

When the 30 minutes passed and still no sign of Gibbs, Tony really started to worry. He didn’t want to call Gibbs though. For some reason, it felt like calling Gibbs would just piss him off more.

Instead, Tony drove to his apartment to see if Gibbs had gone there instead of his place. Tony didn’t see Gibbs’ car in the parking lot, but headed up to his apartment to check anyway. Turning his key in the lock, Tony stared in shock at his apartment. 

Someone had been trying to find something. He wondered what it was. There was no sign of forced entry, so for now he was going to assume that this was yet another sign of how agitated his lover’s state of mind was.

He hated this. They couldn’t be out at work, so he always had to be so careful about what he said and now his lover was upset and he had no idea where he was. With a sigh, he dialed Jackson. Maybe Jackson would know what set off his son and where to find him. 

“Hey Tony! Are we all set for Christmas?”

“Nope. When I announced that I had plans and couldn’t make the Christmas Party, Gibbs got pissed and stormed out of there. He turned my apartment upside down looking for something, but I have no idea where he is now.”

Jackson hummed. “You checked his house?”

“Yep. No sign that he came home, at all.”

“Alright. I bet I know what happened. Check out Mickey’s bar. If it’s what I think it is, he’s probably there. If not, he’ll be at his diner. You know the one.”

“Ok. Thanks, Jackson.”

“I’ll drive down to the house and make sure everything is all set for this trip once you get his head on straight.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Jack. You sure he’ll want to go on this trip?” Tony couldn’t help the insecurity that snuck into that last question. After Gibbs’ reaction, he just wasn’t sure if this was still the right thing to do.

“I’m sure. You’ll understand what happened when you talk to him. I’m sure you can smooth out this misunderstanding.”

“Ok. See you soon. Drive safe.”

“I will. Go get him, Tony.”

Tony hung up and not bothering to clean up anything in his apartment, locked the door, and headed for his car and for Mickey’s bar. He’d never heard of Mickey’s bar before. He knew Gibbs sometimes drank, but usually it was at home. 

Before they got together, Tony knew Gibbs sometimes visited the Captain’s Lounge. It was where he ran into Hollis and some of his other redheads. He was a lot more willing to bring a redhead home when he was drunk or at least that was Tony’s suspicion given he knew Gibbs had practically sworn off women before he’d met Hollis.

Tony pulled into the parking lot at Mickey’s bar and breathed a sigh of relief. Gibbs’ car was here. Hopefully, that meant that Gibbs was here too. 

Tony entered the bar. He was surprised to find that the inside was completely dark, a hooligan in every shadow he feared. This wasn’t the kind of bar that Gibbs usually hung out at, at all.

This was the kind of place where no one knew anyone else and everyone kept to their own corner to avoid accidentally ending up in the middle of a drug deal gone wrong or worse. Tony was positive that the guys in the right back corner were a biker gang. How was he supposed to find Gibbs in this mess?

If he guessed wrong as to which shadow was Gibbs, he would end up with more trouble than he bargained for. Not that he was overly worried about getting into a fight. He could handle himself. He’d been a police officer before he joined NCIS, after all, but it would suck to start out their vacation with an injury.

Tony slowly moved out of the entrance way, not wanting to garner any unnecessary attention. Of course, his clothes kind of stood out. Most people were in jeans and rather scraggly ones at that, not a suit like Tony had on from work.

He heard the whispers as he walked past various people. Could feel the eyes on him, sizing him up. The wonders about what a pretty boy was doing here and if they needed to teach him a lesson.

Tony didn’t like the sounds of what he was hearing, but he only had one goal and that was to find Gibbs. He just hoped he found Gibbs before he ended up in the middle of a bar fight with practically every person in this bar. Gibbs was a Marine, so he knew that Gibbs would be compelled to find a corner with good sight lines so as to not be taken by surprise.

“What are you doing here?” Gibbs grumbled, “Don’t you have some blond to spend time with?”

“Is that what this is about?”

“I thought we were serious. That it was just us.” Gibbs mumbled.

“Gibbs.” Tony sighed before catching a reflection of light off of something. “What is that?” Tony asked, staring at the item in Gibbs’ hand.

“Nothing. Not anymore. It’s not worth anything.” Gibbs snarled, snapping the case shut hiding the sparkling gem inside.

“Gibbs, what are you talking about? That had to cost you a fortune.” Tony hadn’t been able to see much, but he’d seen enough to know that it was not a small gem.

Gibbs just grunted. “Again, what are you doing here?”

“I came looking for you, idiot. Did you honestly think I wouldn’t?”

Gibbs huffed. That was exactly what he’d thought.

“Seriously, Gibbs. I know you like to do the whole not talking thing, but I can’t help you with whatever is bothering you if you don’t talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. Go be with your blond that you made plans with.”

Tony sighed. “I don’t have plans with a blond.”

“But you said”

“I know what I said. I worked with a blond travel agent to get a Christmas trip set up for us and Jackson. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Oh.” Gibbs frowned. He slowly turned his head towards Tony as if to verify the truth of what Tony had said. “You’re really not leaving me?”

“I’m really not leaving you. Though I would like to leave with you. This place gives me the hives.” Tony could still feel all the eyes on him, though the whispers had died down some since he’d started talking with Gibbs. 

“I’m too drunk to drive,” Gibbs pointed out.

“It’s fine. We’ll figure something out. I can have Tim or Abby pick it up after we leave if you want.”

“No. Not yet. I don’t want them to know about this.”

“Ok. We’ll figure something out. Let’s get you home to Jackson and then he and I can go retrieve your car, Ok?”

“Ok.” Gibbs nodded, before questioning softly, “Tony?”

“What?”

“You really planned a trip for the three of us? The blond thing was just to throw people off?”

“Yep. It worked a little too well, it appears.”

“I didn’t trust you. I should have.”

“Yes, you should have, but we’ll figure it out Gibbs. This is still new.”

“No, it’s not. Or it shouldn’t be. We’ve known each other forever it seems.”

“But not like this Gibbs. If we’d been intimate when you ran off to Mexico, it would have killed me. We’ll figure it out. I’m not leaving you, I promise.”

“Tony?” Gibbs asked a bit shyly. 

“Yes?” Tony worried about Gibbs. His emotions seemed all over the place and not at all what he was used to from Jethro.

“Will you keep this safe for me?” Gibbs held out the box with the sparkly gem inside of it.

“Of course. Let’s go home now, ok?”

“Ok.” Gibbs sighed and followed Tony after Tony took the ring box. It wasn’t a proposal or an acceptance, yet, but it was good enough for now. He hadn’t wanted to ask Tony when his head was still so awash with rejection.

Now, that he knew what Tony had planned he felt a bit foolish for believing that Tony would leave him like that, but well in the end they all left him. It was hard not to assume the worst, especially with their relationship still so new. He couldn’t help kicking himself for not trusting Tony, though.

Tony had stayed with him all these years as a true loyal Saint Bernard. He should have known better, really. He didn’t know how he would make this up to Tony.

He had practically trashed Tony’s apartment looking for the ring he’d hidden there in hopes of surprising Tony with a proposal when the time was right. He would have to clean Tony’s apartment when he was sober and capable of driving. Hopefully, he could get Tony’s apartment cleaned before Tony saw the mess he made.

It wasn’t until they reached Gibbs’ home and he saw Jackson’s vehicle in the driveway that he remembered that Tony had mentioned bringing him home to Jackson. “Why’s Jackson here?”

“I called him when I couldn’t find you at your place or mine.”

“Didn’t want to be found.”

“I know, but we’ve cleared all that up, yes?”

“Yeah. Tony?”

“Yes, Jethro?”

“Will you stay with me?”

“Of course. We have an early flight. I can’t have you disappearing on me again.” Tony winked.

Gibbs frowned at that. He would have to be fast if he wanted to get Tony’s apartment cleaned up in the morning before they left apparently. Or maybe he could clean it up after they got back and before Tony went over to his place. 

Gibbs contemplated how to clean up Tony’s apartment while Jackson and Tony drove out to retrieve Gibbs’ vehicle from the bar. He still wasn’t any closer to figuring it out when they returned. After that, Gibbs didn’t have much time to consider how to get Tony’s apartment cleaned up. 

Tony immediately hustled him up to bed. After quickly undressing Gibbs, Tony got him into bed and then joined him there. Gibbs watched Tony set the alarm for 3am and frowned. 

They really must have an early flight. How was he going to fix the mess he made? He still felt horrible about everything.

Between the alcohol and the feelings of rejection and the feelings of regret about what he’d done and the assumptions he’d made, he was still in a world of misery. He didn’t know how to get himself out of it either. Tony had fallen immediately to sleep as far as Gibbs could tell, but Gibbs couldn’t. 

His brain wouldn’t stop. Usually, alcohol made it easy to fall into a drunken stupor and get some sleep, but apparently he hadn’t drunk enough to accomplish that today. Though, he knew he was more than a little tipsy. Still he didn’t want to wake Tony, so he tried to sneak out of bed, emphasis on tried. 

“Gibbs?” Tony murmured sleepily.

“Shh. Go back to sleep. I’ll be right back.”

“Mmkay.” Tony nodded off again.

Gibbs shook his head, even the cute sight of Tony asleep couldn’t lure him back to the bed. If he thought he’d be able to indulge in the bourbon in his basement, he had another surprise coming, however, as he found Jackson wide awake in the living room.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Leroy.” Jackson nodded. “I think we both know you were about to do something even more stupid than what you’ve already done tonight.”

Gibbs frowned. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t sleep. I trashed Tony’s apartment looking for the ring, dad.”

“Yeah. Tony told me. That was silly of you, Leroy. You know that boy is head over heels for you.”

“He said he made plans with a blond. What was I supposed to think?”

“It was at work. I know you guys aren’t out there. What did you want him to say? I’m going to take my boss up to our cabin and shag him? Really, Leroy.” Jackson clucked disapprovingly.

“I know. I know. You think I haven’t been beating myself up about it? Why do you think I can’t sleep?”

“Well you know you could give him the ring. I think it would make up for a lot if he knew you were thinking of marrying him.”

“I did.”

“You did? So when’s the wedding?”

Gibbs blushed, his dad could still make him feel like a teenager caught with his hand down his pants. “I didn’t actually ask him to marry me. Just gave him the ring to hold on to.”

“Oh, son. You have it bad.”

“I know. What am I going to do? He’s planned this awesome Christmas vacation and all I have is a ring and a key.”

“You have a lot more than that. It’s ok. We have the rest of the Christmas Vacation to fix it.”

“We?”

“Of course, I’ll help you, son. You don’t even have to ask.”

Gibbs shook his head and chuckled a little. Sometimes all it took to make someone feel better was a talk with their dad. “Thanks dad. I think I’ll go back to bed, now.”

“You do that, son.”

Gibbs returned to his bedroom and slid back under the covers, pulling Tony into his arms. Tony murmured, sleepily. “You get everything sorted out?”

Gibbs laughed. “How long did you listen in?”

Tony purred and rubbed his head against Gibbs’ chest, “Just long enough to make sure Jackson got a hold of you.”

“Everything’s fine. Now go to sleep. We have an early morning tomorrow.”

“Yes, we do.” Tony’s voice took on a sexy growl.

It turned out the 3am wake up call wasn’t for their flight. It was to make sure they had time to raise the masts and set sail in the morning. They’d needed a brief nap after their ship sailed, but were now getting coffee and clothes on.

Tony could immediately tell that something was up once they got to the airport. As soon as they made it through security, Jackson broke off saying he needed to buy a book to read. If that wasn’t suspicious enough, Gibbs immediately followed him saying he’d help.

Tony stared after them in confusion before shaking his head. He’d leave them to their secrets. Tony settled in at the gate and hoped that whatever they were up to wouldn’t result in them missing their flight.

Jackson really had intended to just buy a book for reading. Leroy following him changed all of that. Jackson knew that this would be the start of their plans to make this an amazing holiday for Tony and give him the best proposal ever.

“So what are you thinking, dad?”

“Well you made sure the ring got in, right?”

“Yep. Made sure he still had it with him when we left this morning.”

“Ok. Good. So now, we just need to focus on buttering him up a bit so he forgets about what happened and then stage the perfect scene for your proposal, ok?”

Gibbs grunted. He could do this. Maybe.

Jackson shook his head. His son sure could use a lot of help for someone who’d had 4 wives. “We can’t do much about the plane ride, but let’s research a nice restaurant you can take him to once we land.”

Gibbs stared at him blankly. He had no idea how to find a restaurant at their final destination, right now.

Jackson looked at Leroy’s expression and sighed. Pulling out his own phone, he used the google voice search to get the information they needed. 

Gibbs boggled a little. “You know how to use one of those?”

“Sure. Abby showed me how, so that we could keep in touch better. It’s really helpful.”

Gibbs shook his head, but used his phone to call the number his dad found and book a reservation for the evening after they arrived.

Once Gibbs finished, Jackson ordered, “You will bring him a single rose when you take him out to the restaurant.” 

Gibbs nodded. Then he glanced at the time and realized their flight was supposed to start boarding soon. They quickly booked it to the gate, barely making it in time for the final boarding call. 

Tony eyed the two of them suspiciously as they joined him on the plane. He remained quiet while the stewardess went through the normal seatbelt, air bag, etc spiel. It wasn’t until they were actually in the air that he quietly asked, “Do I need to pretend to sleep so that you guys can have some more secret discussions without me?”

Jackson chuckled and shook his book at Tony. “Nope. He’s all yours. I got my book right here.” 

Gibbs settled his arm around Tony’s shoulders and pulled out a boating magazine to flip through. He hadn’t wanted to chance trying to bring whittling equipment on board the plane. Tony shook his head and waited for them to let portable electronics be used, so that he could start up a movie.

Tony’s curiosity was eating at him as he watched the movie. He really wanted to know what Gibbs and Jackson were up to. He was trying to be patient, certain that he would find out eventually, but it was difficult.

He couldn’t even get into his movie due to the distraction of wondering what they were up to. He finally put it away and decided to see it he could nap for the rest of the flight. However, even napping seemed unattainable as his mind kept coming up with ideas for what the two of them could be up to. 

Tony breathed a sigh of relief when the plane finally started it’s descent. Of course, they still had to transfer to another plane before reaching their final destination. Tony sighed. 

He was looking forward to finally being at their destination. He’d booked a lovely ocean view hotel and had brought presents for Gibbs and Jackson with him. He hoped it would be an amazing trip.

There were a lot of activities they could do. Or they could just relax in the room with the super amazing amenities too. Tony thought it was the best of both worlds. 

Fortunately the second flight went quickly as Tony managed to fall asleep shortly after takeoff. Both Gibbs stuck their heads together once they were sure Tony was completely out. Jackson promised he would get someone to clean up Tony’s apartment while they were gone.

Gibbs was still trying to figure out what would make for a perfect proposal. The obvious thing would be to take Tony to one of those fancy italian restaurants and propose there. However, Gibbs just knew that he would mess up the proposal due to nerves if he tried that. 

He considered taking Tony on a picnic to the beach, but he worried that this would be too casual for a proposal. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to incorporate his love for boats with Tony’s love for movies somehow. He mentioned this to Jackson and Jackson’s face immediately lit up.

“I know exactly what you can do.”

“What?”

“A movie scavenger hunt.”

“A what?”

“Look it’s perfect. I’ll help you get it setup once we arrive, but the most important thing for you to do is to book a ship for just you and Tony and whatever staff is needed to run the ship. Then give Tony those tickets when you take him out to dinner. I’ll help you get everything else set up and explain at the hotel when we are more free from prying ears.” Jackson nodded to Tony who was stirring in his sleep as the plane was starting it’s descent.

“Ok, dad.”

The topic was dropped as Tony woke and the plane landed. They were finally at their destination. It was about mid morning, so just enough time for another nap before Gibbs took Tony to the restaurant that he’d booked reservations at for the evening. 

Tony didn’t need a nap after having napped on the plane, so he went out and explored the beach in front of their hotel room while Jackson and Gibbs napped. Or at least, he thought they were napping. In reality, Jackson was explaining the movie scavenger hunt idea to Gibbs and Gibbs was working on getting the boat rented.

The plan was that Jackson would go buy a bunch of romantic movies while Gibbs and Tony were at the restaurant tonight. Then Gibbs would write some notes to go with the movies and Jackson would work with the boat rental people to hide them and add clues to the next movie to the note once they were placed. The final movie would have the ring in it or Gibbs could make sure Tony brought the ring and ask Tony to retrieve it in the note with the final movie.

Gibbs still needed to figure out which he preferred. He’d let Jackson know in the morning. Now, it was time for the restaurant date that Tony didn’t know about. 

First, though, Gibbs had to get the single rose that he promised his father he would bring when picking Tony up for dinner tonight. Fortunately, the hotel had a flower shop nearby and it was an easy matter to pick up a single red rose. He then went and found Tony on the beach.

“Here,” Gibbs grunted, shoving the rose at Tony not very gracefully.

Tony blinked at the rose shoved into his hands, “This is for me?”

Gibbs nodded.

“Thanks Gibbs. What’s the occasion?” Tony looked confused.

“Dinner.” 

“Right now?”

Gibbs nodded again. “Oh! I have to get dressed.”

Gibbs nose wrinkled in confusion. “You look fine the way you are.’

Tony looked down at himself. “Gibbs. These are wrinkled. If we’re going out to dinner I need better clothes.”

Tony glanced at what Gibbs was wearing. “You do too, actually.”

“What? What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“Come on, you’re not seriously going to tell me we’re going to some place that thinks jeans are acceptable for dinner, are you?”

Gibbs sighed. He knew he wasn’t going to win this battle. They trudged back to the hotel and Gibbs and Tony changed while Jackson snickered at Gibbs. Finally, they were off to the restaurant Gibbs had booked. 

“So am I finally going to get to find out about all the secrecy?” Tony prodded.

Gibbs grunted. “Maybe.”

The dinner was amazing and despite Gibbs general dislike for frou frou restaurants, even he had to admit the food was good and the company even better. It had been a long time since he’d really seen Tony in his element as they’d had a lot of cases recently for work and hadn’t had much time alone together.

Tony was currently in the middle of some story about a movie Gibbs had never seen and Gibbs couldn’t help blurting out, “Oh my god, Marry me.”

Tony stopped in the middle of his story and stared at Gibbs, “Did you just?”

“Yes.” Gibbs waited, hoping for a positive answer, but all Tony could do was stare.

“Really?”

“Yes. I had this whole big thing planned for tomorrow to propose, but it just happened. I love you and it just popped out.”

“Do you even have a ring?”

“No, but you do. You still have the box I gave you for safekeeping, right?”

“Wait. That was a ring?”

“Yep.”

“Really?” 

“Yep. Pull it out and see for yourself.”

Tony slowly pulled the box out of his pocket as if afraid that it would reveal something he wasn’t expecting. Gibbs nodded and indicated for him to open it. Tony lifted the lid and stared in awe at the ring nestled inside. 

He didn’t know why, but he hadn’t put two and two together. When he’d seen it in the bar it had been so dark, he’d thought that it had just been a gemstone that Gibbs had used to make him a watch or something. They hadn’t been dating that long, so a ring had never even entered his mind.

“It’s beautiful, Gibbs.” Tony picked up the ring and tilted it this way and that examining the stone that Gibbs had chosen for it as well as the ring.

Gibbs grew impatient. Tony still hadn’t answered his question. “Well?”

“Thank you, Gibbs.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Oh!” Tony smiled sheepishly. “Yes, of course, I’ll marry you, but I want to know all about your big plan.”

Gibb smiled back and handed Tony the tickets for the boat he’d planned to propose on. “With Jackson’s help I was going to setup a movie scavenger hunt on this boat and then propose at the end.”

“You were?”

“Yep. You’re it for me, Tony, and I want you to know that. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding earlier.”

“Wait, is this why you tore up my apartment? You were looking for the ring you hid?”

Gibbs chuckled sheepishly. “Yep.”

“Just how long have you been planning to propose to me?”

“At least 3 months. I was waiting for the perfect moment and then I messed everything up and I just wanted this vacation to be as special for you as you make it for me.”

Tony couldn’t help himself after that declaration. He reeled Gibbs in for a big kiss. This set the crowds around them off to clapping and cheering them on. Jackson chuckled, when he saw the ring on Tony’s finger as the two men returned to the hotel suite. 

He patted the stack of movies next to him. “I have plenty to watch if you want me to make myself scarce tomorrow.”

Gibbs blushed. “Dad!” he shouted in outrage.

Tony giggled as he watched Gibbs glare at Jackson. He hoped that Gibbs would feel more secure in their relationship even if they did still plan to hide it at work, after this. He knew he wouldn’t trade it, not even for a Ferrari.

By the time they returned from vacation, both of them had completely forgotten about the mix-up that happened before. Even the evidence of Tony’s trashed apartment was gone. It was like it had never happened.

That is, until they went into the office the next day. Both of their desks had been decorated with a just married banner and there was a card that said, you said you weren’t dating, but now you’re engaged. Congratulations!

Gibbs and Tony didn’t know what to think about this. They accepted the hugs from the team and the gentle ribbing about keeping them in the dark. Mostly they were happy that no one seemed to mind that they were in a relationship. 

Even Vance had nodded at Tony and given him a slight smile. It was wonderful. Just like their relationship.


End file.
